Redemption
by Leo Marie Octavian
Summary: Benjamin Barker was finally freed of the demon within himself. My take on the ending


**AN: I don't own anything, this is just my idea of the ending. Well, the absolute ending. I just couldn't resist putting in everything else. Enjoy.**

"'Don't I know you', she said," Sweeney Todd whispered, looking blankly at the ragged beggar woman lying in front of him. Her throat had been slit cleanly yet hastily, and her warm, sticky blood ensued to trickle down her neck and collarbone. Her hair may have been blond long ago, but now it was a mixture between gray and mottled brown. A few blond strands lay here or there, but all beauty that might have been there, that _was _there,was lost. "You knew she lived."

"I was only thinkin' o' you."

"You lied to me." Mr. Todd muttered, looking up at the woman standing a few feet away from him.

"_No, no not lied at all," _Mrs. Nellie Lovett murmured, trying to soothe Mr. Todd. She came away from the open, roaring iron oven and towards the barber. "_No I never lied._"

"_Lucy," _Mr. Todd said quietly, still gazing down at the puddle of blood forming around the limp, dead body of the beggar woman, of his Lucy. "_I've come home again," _

His sorrow blocked out what Mrs. Lovett was saying, but he knew she was trying to defend herself. Slowly, he stood up, never taking his eyes off of his wife, _who he killed. _

"_Lucy, oh my God!"_

"_Yes I lied 'cos I love you!" _

"_Lucy,_" His voice grew, as did his anguish and rage.

_"I'd be twice the wife she was, I love you!" _

"_What have I done?"_

"_Could that thing have cared for you like me?" _

And then, a plan so devilish hatched in Sweeney Todd's mind, it would no doubt send Satan himself running in terror.

Even though she had just insulted his wife, called her a _thing_, even though she lied about Lucy dying, Mr. Todd grinned and faced Nellie Lovett, leaving his razor, his _friend _beside the dead bodies.

"_Mrs. Lovett, you're a bloody wonder, eminently practical and yet appropriate as always," _He narrowed his eyes and walked towards her, obviously intimidating her with his suddenly friendly voice yet betraying clothes; he still wore the blood of his three latest victims. Nellie Lovett backed away from him, scared out of her mind. It pleased Mr. Todd to see this, and it only made him smile even more. "_As you've said repeatedly there's little point in dwelling on the past! Now come here my love." _He gestured for her to come to him, his arms out wide.

Mrs. Lovett protested, but his voice overpowered hers. "_Not a thing to fear, my love. What's dead is dead," _Mr. Todd reached for her, and took her up in his arms, automatically placing a bloodied hand on her waist and holding her hand with his other.

"_The history of the world, my pet," _He sang to her, dancing with her across the bake house floor. Immediately, Nellie Lovett was lost in her love-filled thoughts. Once more, this pleased Sweeney Todd.

"_Oh Mr. Todd, oh Mr. Todd, leave it to me,_" A smile, true and genuine, danced on her red lips as she melted in his arms.

Sweeney Todd watched her, and the ground closely. Not much longer... "_Is learn forgiveness and try to forget!"_

_"By the sea, Mr. Todd, we'll be comfy-cozy! By the sea Mr. Todd, where there's no one nosy-" _Nellie Lovett proposed her love for him once more, pleading with him to be rid of these nightmares in London and to escape with her to the sea. Sweeney Todd's grin grew.

"_And life is for the alive, my dear, so let's keep living it!" _Sweeney Todd sang, knowing this would tie it all up. Two more turns, and he'd be free.

Nellie Lovett, poor thing indeed, believed this to be a declaration of love.

_"Just keep living it!" _They sang together now, smiling at each other.

"Really living it!" Sweeney Todd roared, his angelic smiles now turning into the devil's stare as he picked Mrs. Nellie Lovett up off her feet and tossed her into the roaring, flaming oven.

Nellie Lovett shrieked, the fires immediately beginning to lick at her auburn hair and dark green dress. Her skin burst into flames, and she screamed all the more. Sweeney Todd slammed the door shut, and with one last look through the glass, locked it forever, leaving his accomplice, the woman who loved him, to burn in Hell.

The blood-covered man returned to the body of his wife, finally relieved of his demons. Now, all there was was Benjamin Barker. Benjamin crouched down to the floor and sunk to his knees, all savage thoughts of murder gone. His razors, his beloved friends, were forgotten as he picked up Lucy Barker and cradled her in his arms. Her red blood flowed unsteadily onto his hands, still not yet dry.

"_There was a barber and his wife," _Benjamin murmured hoarsely. He stroked Lucy's cheek lovingly, never taking his eyes off of her. "_And she was beautiful," _

Benjamin could hear the boy, Toby, from behind him. He knew the boy would be seeking revenge for the dead Mrs. Lovett, the devil's wife. Benjamin heard the boy pick up his long-forgotten friend, his prized razor, and walk over to him.

"_A foolish barber and his wife," _Benjamin continued, knowing this would be the end. "_She was his reason and his life, and she was beautiful,"_

He welcomed the idea of death. The Judge and the Beadle were gone, their corpses lying somewhere nearby. Johanna was to be freed by Anthony, and they were to run away together. Lucy, his beloved Lucy, lie dead in his arms. Why else should he continue to live?

"_And she was virtuous," _Benjamin blinked, and hesitantly raised his chin. "_And he was,"_

Benjamin Barker never finished his song, for death, his sweet relief, had come. At first, it hurt, but only a little. Then, the pain was gone. Everything was gone. The demon within had been released, and the barber was free.


End file.
